Should You Go?

Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there. – M. Antonius

Evacuation simply means leaving were you are at a given moment in time. In a disaster there are two basic types of evacuation:

You are asked to evacuate or leave your home or workplace, but are permitted to stay in the immediate area/community.

You are required to evacuate your home, workplace, etc. and must leave the immediate area/community.

Be Prepared!

Either evacuation situation can occur with substantial warning (oncoming storm or hurricane) or with no prior warning at all (earthquake, explosion or tornado). The best way to prepare for any evacuation is to assume you will have little or no advance warning. While you have the luxury of time, build your evacuation kit so you can just grab it on your way out the door. A discussion about the actual decision to stay or go will be addressed in the next section. At this point we want to discuss what you will need if you are required to leave or voluntarily make the decision to evacuate.

No matter whether you are forced to evacuate or go willingly, you won’t be going very far without sufficient fuel. Therefore, NEVER let your car’s fuel tank go below the half-full mark before refueling! (We recently heard the story of a family that was forced to abandon a second vehicle to flooding in their own driveway because it had little more than fumes in the tank.) When you are facing a mass evacuation you can’t waste time looking for open gas stations or waiting in long lines to fill up.

Your Evacuation Kit

Your evacuation kit should contain the minimum basic survival materials you will need for either of the two evacuation scenarios mentioned above. The components of your kit should be stored in a sturdy but lightweight portable container that is easy to carry and, optimally, water resistant. A backpack is ideal because it leaves your hands free; one with wheels gives the flexibility of wearing it or rolling it along as circumstances permit. A “wheelie” (a carry-on suitcase with wheels) also works well.

You really don’t have to buy a new backpack/suitcase; check thrift stores, garage sales or use an older bag that can be retired from regular use. But before you choose your container(s), first determine what supplies you need. After you assemble everything together you will know better what size(s) will suit your needs.

Putting Together Your Evacuation Kit

The supplies (gear and rations) you need to include in your emergency kit should be packed as though you will have to carry the bag without any help. Do not assume you will have access to a car. Based on these guidelines your individual evacuation kit should include, at the very minimum, the following:

Drinking Water – One gallon per day/per person

Cooking/Washing Water – Half a gallon per day/per person for cooking, cleaning dishes and personal hygiene

Whistle – Each family member should have a lightweight, inexpensive pocket whistle attached to a lanyard and worn around the neck. (The sound of a whistle carries farther than the human voice, so create an identifiable call to get your family’s attention in a crowd. If you are on your own, it can be used as a locator and/or distress signal.)

Clothing – One change of clothes, including undergarments, shoes, socks and a warm jacket

Bedding – A sleeping bag/blanket or two lightweight thermal blankets, body warmers and optional inflatable pillow. (A survival Sleeping Bag comes in a package no larger than a wallet and costs from $2-5 each. Emergency Thremal Blankets are available for a few dollars each, if purchased in bulk – minimum of 10. Both are very compact and resuable. Some disposable body warmers are advertised to last 20+ hours and costs around $2 each.) Search the web for options.

Non-perishable Portable Food – Protein snacks or trail mix

Knife – A Swiss Army/Leatherman Knife or other multi-purpose hand held tool

Cash – Several hundred dollars (in small denominations), if you can spare it, in case ATM’s are depleted, inaccessible or non-operational

Car Keys – An extra car and house key should stay in your evacuation kit so you always know where one set is located

If you will be carrying supplies for other members of the family who are unable to carry their own kit, minimize weight by opting for the lightest weight articles available and eliminate any non-essentials you may have included. If you have infants or pets, be sure to include the following items:

Briefs and Recordings

Get the Book

Firestorm founders Harry Rhulen, Suzy Loughlin and Jim Satterfield wrote Disaster Ready People for a Disaster Ready America specifically to address the need for crisis and disaster preparedness at home, and the book has become a cornerstone of many corporate preparedness programs.

Firestorm has worked with hundreds of businesses, organizations and schools to keep tens of thousands of employees, customers and students safer. Firestorm provided crisis management and crisis communications services to Virginia Tech after the shootings, and more recently to Littleton, CO, Roswell, NM and Jefferson County School District in Colorado (location of Columbine) among others.

HEADQUARTERS

In a Crisis now? Call us: 770-643-1114

“What should we do now?” “What should we say?”

How you answer the question “What should we do now?” can have far reaching implications for your company or organization. Preparedness and Resiliency are key brand attributes for every company. Crises come as surprises. Control of events and message are lost. Impacts accelerate. Public scrutiny intensifies.

Are you ready? How do you know? Are you sure?

Most executives are trained to make decisions based upon information, data, and policy.

In a crisis,

Information is generally wrong

Data is not available

Policies do not exist

Command & Control is lost

Brand & reputation are under attack

Leadership is involved and engaged personally

Impacts are disproportional

Events are escalating

Speed is quality or even survival

You are the center of media focus

The above dynamics work aggressively against traditional empirical management decision processes. Decisions must be made quickly with limited and often incorrect information.

A crisis is not business as usual. A crisis is business as unusual.

Crises have a short duration, but have consequences that can determine the viability of a business or organization for years to come. If you are explaining, you are losing.

Crises have impacts – for good and bad. Every crisis starts with a combination of opportunity and danger. Where the risk/crisis conundrum balances depends upon your initial critical decisions, your crisis communications, your monitoring of events, and your adjustments made to strategy and actions as events develop. Your company’s reputation, brand, legacy, and profitability hang in the balance in a crisis. Crises are personal. Every crisis is a human crisis. It is your company. It is your people. It is your brand. It is your reputation. It is your career. Doing the wrong thing or doing nothing can create a point of no return.

We Help Clients Take Control of Crisis

In crisis, we assist senior management in developing or implementing a Crisis Management Plan. We provide advice and insight to help managers make crucial decisions, and communication experts to assist with social media communications and public relations. Our Senior Team is ready to help your senior team.

Don’t Let Your First Response Become Your Second Crisis

As the leading crisis management company, our founders, executives, principals, and Executive Council are available to assist as needed. We put together the right team for you.

Call Us Today for a free assessment and discover how we can help in calm and in crisis. 770-643-1114